The Fate of Western Hungary 1918-1921 - Corvinus Library ...

Borderland, although not openly welcoming towards the Austrian soldiers, did
not offer them any resistance, either.
It was at this time that the Austrian Postal Service’s directive 127, dated
August 27, 1921 took effect. According to it, Hungarian postage stamps were to
stay in circulation in the annexed Western Hungary territory for 14 days after
the originally planned occupation date of August 28-29, until September 4.
After the outbreak of the insurrection – since Austrian forces were forced to
withdraw – the Austrian directive was not in effect. Later, after the actual
handover in November and the second Austrian occupation, the terms of the
directive permitted the usage of Hungarian stamps until December 11. Those,
however, were not the stamps of the Royal Hungarian Mail but the overprinted
stamps issued by an independent Lajta-Banate. The reason was that part of the
inventory of Hungarian stamps was withdrawn from the area at the end of
August and most of what remained was overprinted by the rebels. After the end
of Lajta-Banate, the rebel forces sold the remaining inventory (78,000 Korona)
to a Viennese firm. They authorized a person from Budapest, Lipót Schwartz,
to ship it to Austria. Schwartz, however, was detained by the authorities in
Sopron and, lacking an export permit, confiscated the stamps. In the name of
the former Governing Council of Lajta-Banate, György Hir petitioned the
Finance Minister for their return because, at the time, they paid cash for the
inventory before being overprinted. 487 (Further outcome of the case is not
recorded.)
On November 22, Foreign Minister Bánffy and the Austrian ambassador in
Budapest signed the document worked out, by the Entente generals in Sopron,
after a great deal of dispute, covering the details of the plebiscite. In the end,
the recording of the referendum was not based on this document but on the
decision of the Council of Ambassadors, which was brought to Sopron from
Paris by French Gen. Hamelin and contained the final conditions of the
plebiscite. (1) Persons eligible for the referendum in the plebiscite territory
must have been born in the territory or over 20 years of age who have been
permanently domiciled in the territory after January 1, 1919 and January 1,
1921. The roll of voters is based on the National Assembly election rolls of
1920, which must be used as the basis for necessary adjustments. (2) Voting is
to take place in separate booths, where the ballot must be torn in half of the
choice the voter does not wish to support, but both ballots must be replaced in
the envelope, etc. 488 Events speeded up after that. The Austrian parliament
debated, then accepted, the Venice Protocol. During the session, Chancellor
[Report on the Sopron plebiscite and the Hungarian-Austrian border determination].
Szerk/ed.: Baron Frigyes Villani. Sopron, 1923, pp. 19–20. The ‘Confidential’, in fact
‘Secret’, report was only printed in 20 (perhaps 30) copies for internal use only. Also
see, Missuray-Krúg, 1935, op. cit., p. 132.
487 Király, 1982, op. cit., pp. 149–150. The plates used for the overprinting were
destroyed by the Austrian authorities.
488 Villani, 1923, op. cit., pp. 16–18.
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